Exclusive: Matrix Partners raises new VC fund

FORTUNE -- Venture capital firm Matrix Partners has quietly raised $450 million for its tenth fund, Fortune has learned. That’s the same size as Matrix’s eighth fund (raised in 2006), but a bit smaller than the $600 million it raised for Fund IX in 2009.

"Matrix focuses on early-stage investments, so a fund size of $450 million probably makes more sense than one of $600 million," explains one of the firm's limited partners.

Matrix is one of the oldest venture capital industry's oldest firms, tracing its roots back to a 1977 predecessor formed by Paul Ferri and the late Warren Hellman. The pair would split five years later, with Ferri forming Boston-based Matrix to focus on early-stage deals -- he had already backed Apple (aapl) -- while Hellman formed a later-stage firm in San Francisco that would become Hellman & Friedman.

Ferri is no longer involved in the firm's day-to-day, giving way to a younger group of partners that include three partners who weren't around during the last fundraise Antonio Rodriquez (ex-HP/Tabblo), Josh Hanna (ex-Betfair/Benchmark) and Jared Fleisler (ex-Slide/Google).